Things That Occupy My Imagination

By Georgiana Krieger

Like many artists the shelter-in-place of 2020 brought with it a change of focus and some new work.  People mostly know me as a sculptor who has another life as a saxophonist.  So it is surprising that during the pandemic I have produced a series of paintings.  I have been painting in recent months because I had some painterly ideas occupying my mind and some time to explore that.

Reflections is my new series of oil paintings on discarded mirrors.  My goal was to take these discarded objects and turn them into something with organic beauty.  The paintings depict a mysterious and imaginary biome of growing things.  Small areas of the mirror show through to reflect the real world, but only in tiny bits.  Mostly these works are an escape.

Biome 2021, oil on mirror in vintage wood frame 38”h x 27”w

Shelter in Place 2020, oil on mirror 23”hx19”w

In my studio today there is a sculpture in progress on my workbench.  This is a small piece depicting the earth supported by two polar bears.  I’d like to cast this piece in both cement and glass.  I began casting in cement a couple of years ago and then painting the surface in bright colors.  I became interested in this technique after reading about the bright colors that the ancient Greeks and Romans painted their marble sculptures with.
Here is an example.  Water is Life, 2020 is inspired by water activist Autumn Peltier.  The blue palette of Water is Life transcends traditional portraiture and sybolizes inner strength and moral clarity.  She is supported by the earth. In her gaze, there is determination, in her heart, there is truth. 

Water Is Life, 2020, cement and paint, life scale

Being creative in different media is all about making the work I really want to see! (or hear)  Sometimes what I’d really like to see is a sculptural idea, sometimes it's two dimensional, and sometimes it’s music.  Moving between different media keeps me thinking in different ways while each work informs the others.  For instance, my work in fused glass gave me the inspiration for painting on mirrors and my work in painting informed my work in brightly colored sculpture.  I don’t allow myself to be reigned in by an arbitrary definition of what type of artist I am.  I just strive to make the things that occupy my imagination.

Georgianna Krieger in her studio with beeswax model of Slipping 2021